Happy Feast of St. Andrew!

[Father Bill]

Slainte! To the Patron Saint of Scotland!

PLEASE NOTE - THIS POST IS FOR INFORMATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED; IT IS NOT OPEN TO A DISCUSSION OF ANY RELIGION

Andrew the Apostle

Also known as

• Andrew the Protoclete
• Andreas….
• Endres….

Memorial

• 30 November
• 9 May (translation of relics)

Profile

The first Apostle. Fisherman by trade. Brother of Simon Peter. Follower of John the Baptist. Andrew went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after the Crucifixion. Missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly areas in modern Russia and Poland. Martyred on an saltire (x-shaped) cross, he is said to have preached for two days from it.
Some peculiar marriage-related superstitions have attached themselves to Saint Andrew’s feast day.

• An old German tradition says that single women who wish to marry should ask for Saint Andrew’s help on the eve of his feast, then sleep naked that night; they will see their future husbands in their dreams.
• Another says that young women should note the location of barking dogs on Saint Andrew’s Eve: their future husbands will come from that direction.
• On the day after Andrew’s feast, young people float cups in a tub; if a boy‘s and a girl‘s cup drift together and are intercepted by a cup inscribed “priest”, it indicates marriage.

There are several explanations for why Andrew became the patron of Scotland.

• In 345, Emperor Constantine the Great decided to translate Andrew’s bones from Patras, Greece to Constantinople. Saint Regulus of Scotland was instructed by an angel to take many of these relics to the far northwest. He was eventally told to stop on the Fife coast of Scotland, where he founded the settlement of Saint Andrew.
• In the 7th century, Saint Wilfrid of York brought some of the saint‘s relics with him after a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy. The Scots king, Angus MacFergus, installed them at Saint Andrew’s to enhance the prestige of the new diocese.
• When the Pictish King Angus faced a large invading army, he prayed for guidance. A white cloud in the form of a saltire cross floated across the blue sky above him. Angus won a decisive victory, and decreed that Andrew would be the patron saint of his country. Following Robert Bruce’s victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Declaration of Arbroath officially named Saint Andrew the patron saint of Scotland. The Saltire became the national flag of Scotland in 1385.

Born

• at Bethsaida, Galilee

Died

• crucified on a saltire (x-shaped) cross in Patras Greece
• relics destroyed c.1559 by Protestants

Patronage

• against convulsions
• against fever
• against gout
• against neck pain
• against sore throats
• against whooping cough
• anglers
• boatmen
• butchers
• farm workers
• fish dealers
• fish mongers
• fishermen
• happy marriages
• maidens
• mariners
• miners
• old maids
• pregnant women
• rope makers
• sail makers
• sailors
• single lay women
• singers
• spinsters
• textile workers
• unmarried women
• water carriers
• women who wish to become mothers
• —
• Dames of Saint Andrew
• Karađorđević dynasty
• Knights of the Golden Fleece
• Knights of Saint Andrew
• Order of the Thistle
• Spanish armed forces
• University of Patras
• —
• Austria
• Barbados
• Germany
• Greece
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Romania
• Russia
• Scotland
• Spain
• —
• Dioceses
  
  • Amalfi-Cava de ‘Tirreni, Italy
  • Constantinople
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Victoria, British Columbia
  
  
• —
• Bithynia, Asia Minor
• Lower Austria, province of
• in Belgium
  
  • Brabant
  • Bruges
  • Flanders
  • Hainault
  • Saint-André
  
  
• in England
  
  • Hexham
  • Plymouth
  • Rochester
  • Yetminster
  
  
• Agde, France
• Avranches, France
• Bordeaux, France
• Burgundy, France
• Orange, France
• Berchtesgaden, Germany
• Braunschweig, Germany
• Celle, Germany
• Cloppenburg, Germany
• Halberstadt, Germany
• Hanover, Germany
• Holstein, Germany
• Lampertheim, Germany
• Lippe, Germany
• Lüneburg, Germany
• Minden, Germany
• Moers, Germany
• Prussia, Germany
• Schleswig, Germany
• Schwarzburg, Germany
• Wolfenbüttel, Germany
• Achaia, Greece
• Patras, Greece
• Alfero, Italy
• Amalfi, Italy
• Antey-Saint-Andre, Italy
• Brescia, Italy
• Cartosio, Italy
• Conflenti, Italy
• Grognardo, Italy
• Mantua, Italy
• Marciano della Chiana, Italy
• Naples, Italy
• Orani, Italy
• Pesaro, Italy
• Ravenna, Italy
• Samolaco, Italy
• Sicily, Italy
• Luqa, Malta
• Hattem, Netherlands
• Manila, Philippines
• Saint Andrews, Scotland
• Encinasola, Huelva, Spain
• San Andreas, California

Representation

• fish
• fishing net
• man bound to a cross
• man preaching from a cross
• old man with long white hair and a beard, holding the Gospel in his right hand, and leaning on a transverse cross
• preacher holding some fish
• Saint Andrew’s cross
• saltire (x-shaped) cross; some stories say it was may that way, others that it was a Latin cross, but fell over, and his killers just left it propped up on one of the cross-arms

Storefront

• medals, pendants and small statues

[Hmathews]

Was interested in the iconography of "preaching from a cross" for St. Andrew. These are some of the icons I have found. The devotion, regardless of personal religious preferences, is visually stimulating and worth seeing. Thanks for this post and the information about this day.

[The Q]

And of course he is the saint to which many Chruches are dedicated including this one near me http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bacton/bacton.htm
unusually it's not flying the Saltaire in the photos because it normally does.

[AdamBogle]

Thanks Fr. Bill! Great post, always appreciate what you bring to the forums.

[Dale-of-Cedars]

Was interested in the iconography of "preaching from a cross" for St. Andrew. These are some of the icons I have found. The devotion, regardless of personal religious preferences, is visually stimulating and worth seeing. Thanks for this post and the information about this day.

And the Black Watch (and some others) cap badges and plaid brooches:

[AFS1970]

Oddly enough seeing that he is also a Saint to intercede against gout, I got my first flare up right after Tartan Day last year. After the parade, I ended up at a bar flying the Belgian flag and eating German sausages. Something just isn't right there.

[tripleblessed]

Interesting info, from most any perspective. Given the demands on your time, I would like to say thanks for
gathering and posting.